If T. S. Eliot was correct in saying that modern poetry must embody the complexity of the era in which it is written, then Norman Dubie's poetry is assuredly modern. Yet its very complexity makes capsule definition difficult; one searches for a context or convenient tradition by which to clarify his work, but its allusiveness, historicity, realism, and narrative force combine to keep it unmistakably individual. Sally A. Lodge (Publishers Weekly, 16 September 1983) asserts that Dubie "is that almost unheard of phenomenon--a truly original poet--with his own vision, his own form and his own style." In an interview with James Green, Dubie states that he seeks to "challenge whatever the assumed limits of the lyric are," moving away from the frankly confessional poetry of the last generation with works whose narrators favor either retelling the stories of other voices in other rooms, or presenting scenes from a variety of...